Painkiller News and Research

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Mutant mice administered with cocaine failed to exhibit hyperactivity, shows study

Cocaine is a highly addictive psychostimulant that induces complex molecular, cellular and behavioral responses. Despite various approaches and years of pre-clinical studies, effective, mechanism-based therapies to assist with cocaine misuse and dependence are still sorely lacking.

16 Jan 2019

Opioids contribute to rise in suicides and overdoses in the U.S.

Suicides and drug overdoses kill American adults at twice the rate today as they did just 17 years ago, and opioids are a key contributor to that rise, according to a new review and analysis by a University of Michigan team.

7 Jan 2019

Study confirms increased pneumonia risk with prescription opioids

A study led by researchers at Yale University has shown that taking prescribed opioids increases the risk of pneumonia, irrespective of HIV status.

7 Jan 2019

How to avoid shoulder injury related to vaccine administration

A study by researchers at the University of Waterloo reiterates the need for health care professionals, including pharmacists, to take certain precautions to minimize the risk of their patients suffering shoulder injury related to vaccine administration

24 Oct 2018

Many primary care doctors are still prescribing sedative drugs for older adults

Despite years of warnings that older adults shouldn't take sedative drugs that put them at risk of injury and death, a new study reveals how many primary care doctors are still prescribing them, how often, and exactly where.

19 Oct 2018

Congress targets misuse of hospice drugs

Hospice workers would be allowed to destroy patients’ unneeded opioids, reducing the risk that families misuse them, according to one little-noticed provision in the bipartisan opioids bill headed to President Donald Trump’s desk for his likely signature.

5 Oct 2018

Common painkiller not effective in controlling chronic pain after traumatic nerve injury

A new study out today in the Journal of Neurology finds that pregabalin is not effective in controlling the chronic pain that sometimes develops following traumatic nerve injury.

25 Sep 2018

Study: Neural signal that urges to eat overpowers the one that says to stop

Almost everyone knows the feeling. You're at a restaurant or a holiday meal, and your stomach is telling you it's full, so logically you know you should stop eating.

21 Sep 2018

Nearly one in three opioid prescriptions in the US not justified, finds analysis

According to a nationwide analysis of physician visit records conducted by a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School and the RAND Corporation, nearly 30 percent of the outpatient opioid prescriptions made out in the United States do not have documented justification for their use.

12 Sep 2018

Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm had hand in halting Florida’s opioid investigation

Six months after hiring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's consulting firm, Purdue Pharma settled a Florida state investigation that had threatened to expose early illegal marketing of its blockbuster drug OxyContin, company and state records show.

5 Sep 2018

Painkiller prescriptions after wisdom tooth removal could set teens on path to long-term opioid use

Getting wisdom teeth removed may be a rite of passage for many teens and young adults, but the opioid painkiller prescriptions that many of them receive could set them on a path to long-term opioid use, a new study finds.

9 Aug 2018

Patients with chronic pain feel caught in an opioid-prescribing debate

It started with a rolled ankle during a routine Army training exercise. Shannon Hubbard never imagined it was the prologue to one of the most debilitating pain conditions known to exist, called complex regional pain syndrome.

1 Aug 2018

Common opioid-based painkillers increase harmful side effects in people with dementia

Commonly-prescribed opioid-based painkillers led to harmful side effects tripling in people with dementia.

24 Jul 2018

Doling out pain pills post-surgery: An ingrown toenail not the same as a bypass

What's the right painkiller prescription to send home with a patient after gallbladder surgery or a cesarean section?

22 Jun 2018

How America got hooked on a deadly drug

Purdue Pharma left almost nothing to chance in its whirlwind marketing of its new painkiller OxyContin.

13 Jun 2018

New research shows hypnosedation to be valuable alternative to general anesthesia

New research presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia congress in Copenhagen, Denmark shows that hypnosedation is a valuable alternative to conventional general anesthesia

4 Jun 2018

Walmart announces new regulations for filling opioid prescriptions

Walmart, at the beginning of this week announced regulations regarding filling opioid prescriptions in its own in-store and Sam’s pharmacies. The company as part of its Opioid Stewardship Initiative has vowed to curb not only opioid addictions but also prevent their overdosages and prevent the over-prescription of opioids by doctors.

9 May 2018

Safety violations compound pain of painkiller shortages

Safety violations at a major compounding pharmacy are exacerbating hospital shortages of key painkillers, particularly in California where health officials have taken the "extraordinary" step of prohibiting sales from one of its plants.

16 Apr 2018

Painkiller use during pregnancy could affect unborn child's fertility in later life

Taking painkillers during pregnancy could affect the fertility of the unborn child in later life, research suggests.